Family Portrait
by arcanioque
Summary: Whichever way he tried to see it, Gary Oak couldn’t deny he was constantly looking at a family portrait each time he saw them.


Family Portrait

_my first gary oak fic. be nice. XD _

_Whichever way he tried to see it, Gary Oak couldn't deny he was constantly looking at a family portrait each time he saw them. _

_-_

Gary's jealous.

As a child, his mother tells him he'll be a pokemon master in no time. His father rumples his hair and says he has great expectations of his son. His older sister leaves him to his own devices and trusts him to take care of himself. The only words his grandfather ever mentions to him is "Well done" and "take care", and it doesn't even sound half sincere when someone's telling you all these while looking at Dexter in hand.

But tell Gary he's missing out on family warmth, and his ego the size of Mt. Silver will augment his confidence, and fires back at you snide remarks. Things like, who needs a family when he's got his awesome nearly complete collection of pokemon anyway? Stuff like, I'm an independent kid, not like Ash Ketchum that loser who has to make friends every single step along his way.

Gary's not alone. He's got great pokemon by his side, really. Blastoise's awfully strong, and every trainer who's battled him tells him they're jealous and dreadfully envious of his water pokemon. Then if those idioms about dogs being men's best friend are true, then Arcanine is what it is to Gary. And watching Eevee evolved into Umbreon was one of Gary's best moments in life.

No, Gary's not alone. His pokemon _are _family.

So it doesn't make sense, when he stumbles upon _them _in his journey. Strange, but this time, he doesn't approach them nor make attempts to taunt them. Instead, he keeps to watching from a distance, and he fingers the Tao chain around his neck as he takes in what he sees.

What he stores and later analyzes then make no sense.

Ash, being the clumsy kid that he is, trips into a hole Team Rocket has dug. Pikachu falls through as well. Some parts of Gary wants to laugh at his rival, but it catches in his throat and the noise dies within, when he catches sight of his two friends reaching for an escape rope in their backpacks.

"Hang on, Ash! We'll get you out, no matter what!" Misty.

"Yup! Escape ropes - you've just gotta trust 'em." That's Brock. Like some experienced camper who has done this a million times, he ties a thick knot around his waist, then perches himself carefully so he'll head down into the hole and drag Ash up. Ash makes some kind of weird, noisy complains from down below, but later reappears with Brock panting by his side. It seems like the Pewter gym leader's gotten through a whole lot of trouble to get the younger boy out and up.

Misty immediately hurries to Ash's side, and checks if he has any wounds on. Brock takes Ash's cap which has fallen onto the ground, examines it for dirt, dusts them away, and places it back on Ash's black hair, though Gary's careful to note Brock rumpling Ash's hair before he does so.

The Cerulean gymleader begins to scold Ash for being such a clumsy idiot. Brock tells her to go easy on Ash, who's rubbing his head and laughing innocently. "Sorry for troubling you guys!" He then proceeds to take Pikachu in his arms and hug it like a bear.

This time, Misty smiles, as do Brock.

"Are you okay, Pikachu? I'm so glad you're safe." Ash speaks.

And it's all Gary can do, to watch Misty and Brock surround Ash. It's unmistakable - their gazes are protective, their escapes ropes tight in hands just in case Ash falls into a hole suddenly again, the smiles on their faces resembling that of pride.

It's a heartwarming scene, one that makes Gary unable to look furthur, as he pivots, and trudges into another direction.

And however much he tries to see it in a different angle, adopt a different perspective, a fresh new opinion, it's this:

He's _jealous. _

He's better than Ash, in every way. Gary's beaten more trainers than him, has chalked up more experience points in battles, has collected more pokemon, has more Gym badges pinned somewhere on his jacket in his bag, has more higher-level pokemon than Ash ever would have.

But Ash has a _family. _Not just friends who'd look out for him when he's hurt, or sad, or lonely, or simply in need of a shoulder to cry on. Not just fair-weathered companions who travels alongside him just because they share the same love for Pokemon.

...Because Brock's almost like Ash's father, and Misty like Ash's mother.

These are people, who really care for him. Who'd go till the ends of the world, to see him make it as a pokemon master. Who'd travel the lengths of seas, climb the highest mountains with him just so he won't ever be alone. Who'd encourage him every stop of the way, who'd nag at him to make sure he doesn't get lazy, who'd tell him where he's gone wrong, so he'll correct his mistakes and learn from them, who'd share jokes and laugh with him, just _because _they love him like a family to their only son.

And that itself, makes all the difference.

So Gary says he doesn't care even if he misses out on family love, but watching them now as they turn their backs on him and continue out on their journey, he knows he's lying, and he's jealous.

Because when he watches them, he sees a family portrait that could have been him in the picture, instead of Ash.

Because when he watches them, he sees what he's been sorely missing out these past few years...

...and for the first time, only truly realizes how lonely he is.

**owari **


End file.
